Yakima Pilot Survives After Engine Trouble Forces Landing

Seventy-three-year-old James Bell of Yakima survived an engine problem that nearly led to a plane crash Sunday. Yakima County sheriff's deputies say they were notified at 4:08 p.m. Sunday that the plane had gone down in the 9500 block of North Wenas Road.

Authorities say they found the plane and pilot -- who was several hundred yards out into a field on the west side of North Wenas Road. Bell was the only occupant of the plane and was not injured. Hel told deputies he was in the air when he experienced an engine malfunction that forced him to make an emergency landing.

Authorities say the only significant damage from the accident appears to be to a barbed wire fence on one edge of the field where the plane came down. The plane doesn’t appear to have been significantly damaged.

Once engine repairs are made, the plane should be able to be flown away from the scene.